Time Commitment & Balance

Yesterday I talked about how many classes you need. And I didn't remind you that there is also the opposite side of scheduling where students want to take ALL the classes and fill their schedules up with too many difficult classes compared to what they can actually manage successfully. After all, it is really easy right now (especially when we are in the midst of multiple back-to-back snow days) to think "Oh I can manage to do it all, it will be fine." But then when you're in the midst of actually doing it you can feel like you are drowning.

So, when you are considering which classes you want to take it is really important to try to find a balance. You want to challenge yourself with courses that will push you and help prepare you for the future. At the same time you want to remember that it is high school and you need to be reasonable about your expectations for yourself. There is a balance that should be sought - between too many "easy" classes and too many "hard" classes. You know yourself best and what you can handle so while it may feel good to have every teacher recommend you for honors, AP, or IB classes it doesn't mean that it would be the ideal situation to load your schedule with 7 advanced classes. In the past I have even had students stop by proclaiming a plan to take 8 classes by skipping their lunch period.  I get it, there are a lot of incredible classes available at WKHS, but overloading your day and burning yourself out does nothing for your love of learning or your ability to successfully complete your classes.  I cannot stress enough how much I want you to think about the rest of your commitments.  

What sports, clubs, music groups, part-time jobs, and volunteer commitments do you have?  When will you have time to relax and breathe, spend time with your family and friends and, perhaps most importantly, still get a good night's sleep each night?

I understand this can be hard to figure out the balance because you aren't at next year yet to be able to imagine what your days will feel like, but the Kilbourne staff created a Time Commitment Planning Calendar which can help you gain insight into what your intended plan will really look like.  You can find it on the Kilbourne Counselor website - www.wkhscounselors.com.  A student helped by completing a sample calendar so that you can see what a completed one looks like and that is also on the Kilbourne Counselor website.  I strongly encourage you to consider 2 of your busiest weeks and fill out the calendar so that you can have a realistic perspective for what the classes you are considering would provide a good balance for you - being both rigorous (particularly in any area of passion) and reasonable.

Enjoy tomorrow's continued Snow/ Cold day!

How Many Classes?

As you continue thinking about your courses for next year (and any subsequent years), it is important to be sure that you are taking enough classes, but you also don't want to over-extend yourself.

For most 9th, 10th and 11th graders, you will be taking 6 classes. That would leave you with room for a lunch and an off period (prep or options or early release or late arrival).

For most seniors, if you are in good standing academically, you can drop to 5 classes. Why do we give you the flexibility to drop to 5 classes? Because the process of applying to college and applying for scholarships is time consuming and we want to be sure that you can give your best to your course work and also your future plans. It is important for seniors to remember that 5 classes is the minimum required to be considered a Full Time student. Being full time is important for a range of reasons - insurance, child support, good driver discounts, plus colleges definitely want to see you as a full time student. So you definitely won't go below the 5 minimum classes in any semester.

While 5 to 6 classes is the minimum per year, if students are behind on earning credits due to failing classes, then it may be necessary to plan on taking more classes during a semester or the year.

Also, when planning out your classes over the next year, be sure that you double check and make sure you'll be taking enough classes to be eligible to participate in athletics and other co-curricular activities.  (Remember, any school sponsored activity that involves competition requires you to be eligible. So this includes band, choir groups, Mock Trial, In the Know, etc.)  

In order to be eligible you must PASS at least 5 of the half credit courses each quarter. If you are signing up to take a Wellness for Life course or TOK, you need to remember that these classes are only worth .25 credits per semester so they do not count in the courses needed for co-curricular eligibility.

Enjoy having another day off tomorrow and please, stay warm!

Snow Day & Registration Reminder

I absolutely LOVE snow days! I think the snow is beautiful... from the comfort of my home. :-) And, actually, I think there is nothing more joyful as a kid (and adult for that matter) than the added bonus of an unexpected day off where you don't have anywhere to go, nothing that you have to do, and you have the freedom and flexibility to spend the day doing whatever fills you with joy.

What might that look like? Sleeping in. Reading. Making/ eating yummy food. Listening to music. Cleaning your room. Checking something off your "to-do" list that has been hanging over your head for too long, but you just haven't had time to do it. Participating in a hobby - making something, building something, creating something, coloring/ drawing, playing your instrument, etc. Watching a movie. Catching up on your favorite shows. Snuggling with your pets or teaching them a new trick. Playing in the snow. Shoveling the snow for your family or your neighbors. Drinking hot chocolate. Sitting under a blanket beside a fire.

I feel like the options are endless... and wow, when I read through the list I just wrote, all of that would be a pretty incredible way to fill your bonus day off.

Perhaps you're trying to be productive and check some things off your school to-do list. I have a few reminders there for you as well...

• Register for your classes for next school year! The online registration window is now open so there is no better time to hop online and select the classes you want to take next year.
• Seniors, many of you attended the Scholarship Senior Seminar on Thursday morning, this is a great time to start working on some of those scholarship applications.
• Complete your YouScience assessment. Or, if you already did it, spend some time exploring your strengths in the aptitude section and the potential career matches in the career section. If you haven't done the YouScience brain games yet or if you are ready to look more at your results, you can get there through HelloID.
• If you're planning to participate in CC+ next year, apply to your intended college.
• Juniors, sign up for your 1:1 meeting time with your counselor. (Invitations were sent to your email, but we have links to all of the counselor appointments on the Counselor website).

Even though we have a snow day, the time to schedule your classes for next year is still this week. So please be sure that you do focus on that at some point in this coming week. Remember, next week we will meet with every Freshman and Sophomore student and we will review all of your course requests and answer any of your questions too.

Enjoy your day off tomorrow. Please stay warm, safe, and try to do something that brings you joy in your bonus day off!

Earning Credit

This week a large part of my time has been trying to explain to students about how you earn credits in high school.  It is a valuable reminder for everyone.

High school is different than elementary and middle school.  In middle school, you take classes and each year you move on to the next grade and take all the classes for that grade.  In high school, you must earn credits for specified classes and the way you earn credit is by passing each semester of the class. 

So, for example, all students must earn 4 credits of English to graduate.  When you pass both semesters of English 1 during your freshman year, you move on to English 2 during your sophomore year.  If, unfortunately, you failed one of the semesters of English 1 then you are going to have to make that particular semester up before you can progress on to English 2.  Students who failed a semester will be able to make up the course either by repeating the class in summer school, repeating the class through credit recovery or repeating the class by retaking it during your sophomore year.  The bottom line is that you must REPEAT the class in some format.

Some classes (like English) have pre-requisites that students must meet in order to move on to the next level.  Other classes, like Science and Social Studies, do not have pre-requisites to move on to the next level so we will potentially allow you to move from Physical Science to Biology or from World History to US History without first repeating the freshman year class.  Don’t misunderstand though, you will still have to repeat the class at some point, but if you are not making it up during summer school, then you will likely be taking a freshman year class during your junior year.

In order to earn sophomore status, students must have earned at least 5 credits.  To become a junior you will need 10 credits.  To be classified as a senior, you must have earned at least 15 credits.

So, if you need to repeat a class, by far, most students will do that during summer school. Summer school

Grad Requirements & Reminders

I just got home from Curriculum Night and it is always so fun to see everyone exploring the options available at WKHS. Before I get into reviewing the graduation requirements, I want to remind all students and parents of 2 important events we are offering tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning, Thursday, January 22nd at 8:15am in Room 201 we will host a Senior Scholarship Seminar. This is a quick, 20 minute presentation to help get seniors moving on working on searching for scholarships.

Additionally, tomorrow evening, Thursday, January 22nd, at 7:00pm in the Auditorium we will host a College Credit Plus (CC+) presentation. This presentation is an annual requirement for all students interested in participating in CC+ classes in the upcoming school year. Please make plans to attend if you are considering taking a CC+ class next year!

Now, for graduation requirements. I know they can feel daunting for students and parents because there are so many components involved. With registration starting today, having an idea of what you need to complete for graduation is essential to selecting your classes, so I wanted to take a moment and give a quick overview of the requirements.

Basic Academic Requirements:

• 4 credits of English
• 4 credits of Math
• 3 credits of Science
• 3 credits of Social Studies
• 1/2 credit of PE (or additional elective credit if earning the PE Waiver)
• 1/2 credit of Health
• 5 credits of Electives (anything other than the classes listed above count as electives)
• 1 full year worth of Fine Art completed between grades 7-12
• Financial Literacy requirement (can be met through Personal Financial Management, Economics & Financial Literacy, Independent Living, or Financial Algebra)

Demonstrate Comptency in English and Math:
For most students this will be done by earning comptency scores of 684 or higher on the English 2 and Math 1 state End of Course tests. Students can repeat these tests as needed.

There are a range of other options for how comptency can be demonstrated, but testing is the clearest path. If you need other options, I will be working with you to identify what pathway would work and be a viable option for you in the future.

Show Readiness by earning 2 Seals:
There are 12 seals (9 state seals and 3 local seals) that students can try to earn.
All students must earn 2 seals and one of those two seals must be a state seal
If you visit the counselor website and look at the graduation requirements page there is a link to information about all of the seals. As you click on each seal you will be able to see the specific information about what is required to try to earn that seal.

Today you also received a copy of your transcript. If you or your parents want to see it now or at any other point in time, you can always review your progress by accessing Infinite Campus.

Tomorrow & Registration

Tomorrow kicks off the process for registering for classes for next school year. You will be on a very different bell schedule and then, tomorrow night, you and your parents are invited to WKHS for Curriculum Night as a chance to get more information about the various programs and opportunities available to students.

Here is tomorrow's bell schedule:

• 1st period- 8:40 - 9:20
• 2nd period- 9:25 - 10:50**
• 3rd period- 10:55 - 11:35
• 4th period- 11:40 - 12:20
• 5th period- 12:25 - 1:05
• 6th period- 1:10 - 1:50
• 7th period- 1:55 - 2:35
• 8th period- 2:40 - 3:20

** As you can see - 2nd period is very long and that is because we will be holding class assemblies for the current freshmen, sophomore and junior students to pass along information about course registration and important information you need to know to successfully select your classes.

I recognize that it feels too early to be making decisions about what you're going to take next year when students are still settling into the new semester, but the time it takes to be able to take your requests and then build a master schedule that will meet your needs is very complex.

One of the most common reactions for students (and parents) as soon as they hear that it is registration time is to panic. So please, right now, before you even receive your registration information, pause, take a deep breath and relax! Thinking about the future can feel overwhelming, but I promise that we will help you through it. This is a very hectic time of year for us dealing with far more than registration, but I want to reassure you that we are aware of the anxiety and we will get through it together.

So, let me give you a quick glimpse of what these next few weeks will include. Tomorrow will be the meeting where you’ll get the details of what you need to do to register for your classes. You will submit your course selections online through Infinite Campus starting on Friday. The deadline to submit your requests is Friday, January 30th. Counselors will meet with every student individually to review your requests. We will still be able to make adjustments to your requests at that time so if you are uncertain about something, go ahead and make your best guess on what you are thinking and then we will talk about it when we meet together.

Here are some of the key dates you’ll need to know about:

• Wednesday, January 21st: Registration materials distributed
• Wednesday, January 21st: Curriculum Night at 7:00pm – you and your parents can come to talk with the teachers and learn more about the different options available to you;
• Between now and the end of February: Individual meetings with juniors and parents as scheduled
• Friday, January 30th: Deadline to submit online course requests
• Monday, February 2nd and Tuesday, February 3rd: Individual meetings with all freshmen students during Modern World History classes
• Wednesday, February 4th and Thursday, February 5th: Individual meetings with all sophomore students during English classes
• Friday, February 27th: Counselor deadlines to be able to make any adjustments in the online system

Over the next few days, during classes, your teachers will be reviewing the different classes offered within their departments as well as talking with you individually about the courses they would recommend for you to take next year. As you talk about the classes and what your teacher recommends they may enter that information into IC for you so that you don't have to worry about signing up for those classes as they will already be on the list for you.

You will have a course selection sheet to help guide you in the different options available and you can use that sheet to make notes about your thoughts on what interests you and then you can highlight to help select your classes that you will then enter online. If you would like to hear more in depth information directly from the teachers who teach particular courses, please set up a time to talk to the teacher or come to meet with them during Curriculum Night. (Let us know if you need help finding a teacher during one of their off periods.) Don't forget that your teacher in the same department will also be able to share a lot of insight with you about the classes options within their department even if they aren't the one who teaches it.

After you have determined which courses you would like to take, please talk it over with your parents and then login and register on Infinite Campus. The online window for students will open this Friday (January 23rd at 4pm.) When you submit your course requests on Infinite Campus they will be saved automatically. You will need to be sure to submit 3 alternates. I will only use those to replace classes if your first choice selections are absolutely not possible.

Freshmen and sophomores will be meeting with us individually during your History or English classes. Juniors, you will have individual meeting times. You should have received an invitation to set up our time to meet via email so use the link to select your own meeting time during an off period that works best for you. Please be aware that some of the appointment slots for juniors will be before the online registration window closes, but you must submit your requests online before our meeting!

Also, just in case you lose any of your forms, we will have extra copies posted, along with the slides from tomorrow’s presentation and the Course Planning Handbook all available for students and parents to access on the Kilbourne Counselor website – www.wkhscounselors.com – and as of tomorrow we will have it on the home page for your convenience.

Once again, the counselors are here to help you, but I please be patient because having more than 300 students makes it hard to get to everyone all at the same time... and we ultimately have until February 27th to get everything determined and finalized.

Institutional Priorities

In my last post I wrote about dealing with deferrals and it had me thinking a lot about how colleges decide on which students they will accept or reject (or defer). There are factors you absolutely know and control - your grades, the rigor of your classes, your ACT/ SAT test scores, but there are also factors you don't have any control over which can play a large role in an admissions decision and those are their institutional priorities.

Colleges have their own needs, goals and priorities. Those who work in the offices of admission work tirelessly to try to build an incoming freshman class that meets the identified priorities (think talents, qualities, and preferences) of their respective colleges. Some of those might be mission driven and others may be based on needs identified on a shifting basis based upon the students on their campus. But here is the challenge with institutional priorities... you can't influence them. So I would encourage you to let go of that element of stress and focus on the areas you can control. And, if you get a rejection to a college after doing everything "right" know that it likely has less to do with something you are lacking and more to do with the college's institutional priorities and some other students being a better fit for those goals.

Here is a list of some common examples of institutional priorities that a particular college admissions office may receive as a target from their college leadership team:

• Recruited athletes
• Artists, Musicians, Thespians
• Underrepresented backgrounds
• First generation college students
• Geographic diversity (they like to say things like "we have students from all 50 states")
• Academic stars
• College level research with a faculty recommendation
• Major academic competition and scholarship winners
• Students applying to under-enrolled or new academic programs
• Students with special talents
• Faculty and staff children
• Legacies (parent attended the college)
• Development potential (possible future financial donors)
• Gender (males are often rarer at liberal arts colleges and women can be rarer at STEM colleges)

It is important to realize that all of these are not going to be priorities at every college. Additionally, even if you fall into one or more of these categories and it is a priority at the college where you are applying, if you don't have the academic qualifications, you're not going to automatically end up getting admitted to the school.

I hope you had a great lo